When Cass, 14, arrives to spend Christmas vacation with the grandparents she hasn't seen or heard from since her dad's funeral 11 years ago, she's taken aback to find that Grandfather is reserved, even taciturn, while Grandma, apparently unwell, is equally uncommunicative. Moreover, their Arizona trailer park doesn't welcome kids, and Cass learns something her grandparents don't know: the rules state that she must leave by New Year's, though her ticket home is a week later. Meanwhile, Cass and Jordy, another 14-year-old visitor to the camp, have struck up an uneasy friendship despite their prickly sensitivities: Jordy, who is brooding over his parents' recent divorce, also has trouble dealing with his diabetes; Cass, whose immature mom is enjoying the holidays with ``her latest jock-boyfriend,'' is embarrassed by being overweight. Jordy, already an experienced activist, solves the eviction threat with a petition and some well-timed publicity; then, in a well-orchestrated climax, Cass saves his life when he has a diabetic attack on a hike, leading to healthier self-acceptance on both sides and some touching revelations about Cass's grandparents, who have always cared for her more than they were able to show. Sinykin's writing isn't seamless, but she captures—with painful accuracy—a teen's touchy blend of protective defiance and vulnerable competence while presenting two likable young people getting to know themselves and each other in an unusual context. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 16, 1991
ISBN: 0-688-10694-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.
After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.
The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-75106-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Illegal immigrant sisters learn a lot about themselves when their family faces deportation in this compelling contemporary drama. Immigrants from Bangladesh, Nadira, her older sister Aisha and their parents live in New York City with expired visas. Fourteen-year-old Nadira describes herself as “the slow-wit second-born” who follows Aisha, the family star who’s on track for class valedictorian and a top-rate college. Everything changes when post-9/11 government crack-downs on Muslim immigrants push the family to seek asylum in Canada where they are turned away at the border and their father is arrested by U.S. immigration. The sisters return to New York living in constant fear of detection and trying to pretend everything is normal. As months pass, Aisha falls apart while Nadira uses her head in “a right way” to save her father and her family. Nadira’s need for acceptance by her family neatly parallels the family’s desire for acceptance in their adopted country. A perceptive peek into the lives of foreigners on the fringe. (endnote) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-4169-0351-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Ginee Seo/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2005
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